Tanteo Tequila Flavors

Tanteo Tequila is handmade—distilled, infused and bottled—in tiny batches in the mountain town of Tequila, in the Mexican state of Jalisco. (By law, tequila can only be made in Jalisco.) Tanteo has created a series of cocktails for all of its flavors, downloadable from the Tanteo website; but these tequilas are so beautifully crafted that for us, sipping them straight is the way to go.

Tanteo Chocolate Tequila

This chocolate tequila is no dessert-sweet chocolate martini but the perfect marriage of chocolate and tequila. Roasted, malted and raw cocoa flavors are accented with jalapeño, but the result is a low heat on top of deep cacao, with a smooth, subtle sweetness. After the chocolate flavor is gone, the fruit flavor of the jalapeño lingers on the finish. (Yes, chiles are fruits.*)

This chocolate tequila evokes the beginning of cacao-drinking, when chocolate was a non-alcoholic beverage flavored with spices and hot chiles. (Read all about it.)

Serve it with desserts (and use it in dessert recipes).

Whip up a wicked mole.

Try some of the cocktail recipes on the website.

Tanteo Jalapeño Tequila

It takes four separate infusions of organic jalapeños to create the right aroma, taste and heat for Tanteo’s jalapeño tequila. The result is a heavily herbal/vegetal tequila in aroma and flavor that is quite special.

Tropical Tanteo is an 80-proof cocktail.

The experience is like drinking a spicy vegetable patch—a beautiful layering of heat, spice, and the vegetable flavors* of jalapeño and agave. It’s Tanteo’s best-selling flavor, although we bet it’s mostly used in mixed drinks that cover up that brilliant marriage of flavors. Blanco tequilas aren’t aged, so they don’t pick up barrel flavors. As a result, they taste the most like the agave plant: vegetal. (Some people refer to this as “cactus-y” under the misinformation that the agave is a cactus. It isn’t; it’s a succulent, from a different botanical family entirely.) The vegetal quality shows itself the best in this flavor. In fact, the aroma emanating from the shot glass tantalized us from two feet away!

As with the other flavors, we love this tequila straight; it also made a terrific Bloody Maria.

If there were ever a perfect 80-proof cocktail, this is it. With mango, pineapple and guanábana.† It is such a perfect drink by itself, that, purists as we are, we can’t imagine hiding its magnificent flavors in a cocktail.

The infused tequila has a beautiful mango-banana flavor (the latter from the guanábana) and is a pure delight: fine fruit flavor, sweet but not sugary, and far too easy to keep sipping.

For dessert, pour some over any related sorbet or ice cream flavor—banana, mango or pineapple, or lemon or orange—and serve a shot of the tequila alongside it.

Ditto for any savory chicken or seafood recipe with a mild preparation or related fruit ingredients (including raisins).

†Guanábana (Annona muricata) has numerous common names: soursop in English, graviola in Portuguese and guyabano in Tagalog, zour zack (sour sack) in Dutch, and a derivative word, sirsak, in Indonesia. It is the fruit of a flowering evergreen tree native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America and Sub-Saharan Africa; it is also grown in some parts of Southeast Asia. It is in the same genus as the cherimoya and in the same botanical family as the pawpaw. In Mexico, it is a popular flavor in beverages, ice cream and frozen fruit bars.

The guanábana. Photo courtesy of ComercialIzadoraMashal.com

We’re fortunate: We tried all three flavors. If you’re unsure of which one to buy for yourself or to give as a gift, we suggest:

Chocolate Tanteo Tequila for chocolate lovers

Tropical Tanteo Tequila for those who like fruity drinks

Jalapeño Tanteo Tequila for those who like things savory and/or want to spice up
their Margaritas

We love them all, but the Chocolate and Tropical Tanteo Tequilas double as impressive dessert pairings and after-dinner drinks.

*Prices and product availability are verified at publication but are subject to change. Shipping is additional. These items are offered by a third party and THE NIBBLE has no relationship with them. Purchase information is provided as a reader convenience.